Asian American rift over Supreme Court affirmative action case

On Monday, dozens of Asian-American organizations filed amicus briefs at the U.S. Supreme Court arguing that universities should be allowed to consider race in admissions decisions. Five Asian-American groups were not among them.

That’s because those groups already filed their briefs in the closely watched University of Texas case — on the other side. They argued in May that the school’s race-conscious admissions policies hurt Asian-Americans by giving less qualified candidates a leg up on admissions.

The dueling briefs provide stark evidence of a growing rift within the Asian-American community over the role race should play in college admissions. This split could have implications for how the court resolves one of the hottest cases on its docket this term, which begins in October.

The views of Asian-Americans, as expressed in amicus or “friend-of-the-court” briefs, could take on added significance in the court of public opinion and perhaps with the justices themselves, said UCLA School of Law professor Eugene Volokh.

The traditional justification for affirmative action has been to prevent schools from becoming all white, Volokh said. “That rhetoric becomes more complicated once you recognize that race-based systems discriminate against Asians as much as whites.”

What do you think? Is affirmative action discriminating against Asian Americans as well as Caucasians?